Oakers pin Thunderbolts

January 15, 2011

CRANSTON â The easy portion of the Coventry High wrestling teamâs schedule is about to end and the iron of Rhode Island wrestling is about to test just how much the Oakers have improved this season.
Coventry, which has spent the first half of the season wrestling Division I-South teams, wrestled its only match of the week Friday at Cranston East and rolled to a comfortable win over the rebuilding Thunderbolts.
Thanks to pins from Blake Pierce (135), Skyler Torborg (140), Zach Wilson (171), Genaro Brown (189), Aaron Pennacchia (215) and Dylan Olson (112) the Oakers hammered East 69-6. Coventry was aided by for forfeits, but three of those forfeits came at weight classes where Coventry is strong.
âIâm slowly getting a little more comfortable with our team,â said Coventry assistant coach Mike Buccaci, who was the head coach Friday because of the absence of Arthur Souza. âI know the tougher teams are still to come; like Cumberland, Warwick Vets, West, Hendricken and East Providence has also improved.
âAll of those coaches have been around for a while. They always have very competitive teams and we learn more about ourselves when we go against them. Weâre hoping to do well again them, but it has a lot to do with matchups.â
Coventry (6-1 Division I-North) would have gone two weeks without wrestling a dual meet if Fridayâs dual hadnât taken place. Coventryâs dual meets against Mt. Hope and East were postponed because of the snowstorm on Wednseday.
And with the Oakers not going away for tournaments last Saturday or this Saturday, it was paramount the team had some live mat time at a critical point in the season with state meet just five weeks away.